Method and apparatus for gauging castings



E. L. WILKE ET AL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GAUGING CASTINGS Filed April 5, 1923 Patented Nov. 25, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1 1,516,804 PATENT. OFFICE.

ERWIN L. wrnxn, or HAMM ND, AND J MES o; JonNs'roNE, or ms'r cmcA'oo, INDI- ANA, AssreNoas 'ro METALS R FINING coMrANY, or HAMMOND, INDIANA, A con,- i

POBATIQN OF INDIANA.

MnrnonANn ArrAaA'rus roa eAuorNe cAsrrNes.

Application filed April 5, 1923.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for determining the highest grade of castings from any given metal.

In order to gain a clear understanding of our invention, the following explanation is made. Antimonial lead is used forcastings of all kinds. are made in'metallic molds, and some castings are more intricate than others; namely, the metal must be flowed fully and completely. into fine lines or portions. Such intricacies involve not only clean metal but also observance of certain, conditions. In many castings failure to observe such conditions has led to the belief that casting failures were dueto dirty metal, whereas this is not essentially a fact.

Take for example the casting of type for printing presses and more particularly type used in printing the-daily metropolitan newspapers. The type must be made of metal of such hardness as to withstand the running off ofmany thousand copies of a single edition.- A- metal having such property is difficult to pour under theconditions existing heretofore, with the result that imperfect castings were made, resulting in loss of material as well as time and labor. Furthermore, when running off thousands ofcopies of a single edition, the type cast under the heretofore existing conditions would not stand up and after a certain number of copies had been run ofi the type became very badly worn withthe result that the balance of the copies were blurred and therefore not saleable.

Another instance of the conditions heretofore ma be mentioned, and that is the coating 0 electric cable with an outside covering of a lead alloy. The producer-of the metal often'is required, to guarantee that the metal will produce. a coating'fof a certain thickness throughout theentirelength of the cable, the latter varying in relatively long lengths, or to guarantee that Most of such castings Serial No. 629,985.

the metal will not crack on winding the cable on a reel. In theevent of failure of this metal in any part of the length of the cable, whether atthe beginning, end, or any intermediate part, the manufacturer of the cable. would take advantage of the guarantee by way of penalty in the contract with the result that great loss of money :was suffered bythemaker of the metal.

So it is in other casting operations, where fineness of product. is required great loss of material, time, and-labor resulted-in obtaining imperfect castings, due to a number of conditions which it is the object of our invention to overcome.

We. have found by actual experiment and demonstration that, in order to 1 produce perfect castings, it is absolutely necessary to take into account the temperature of the 'metal as poured and the temperature of the moldinto which the metal is poured.

When making castings of a certain grade,

the best results are secured when the metal and mold temperatures bear a certain ratio to each other, and the same holds true with respect to the kind of metal being used. To

determine. these temperature ratios required for dlfferent grades of castings in order that the best castings may besecuredof the different grades, we .make an apparatus such as shown in the accompanying drawings. In these Fig. 1 is an end view of'a mold provided with a mold cavity made in accordance with our invention; and '7 c Fig. 2 is an enlarged view showing the design of said cavity.

As shown in the drawings, the mold com 7 prises two separablemold members A, B, one of which has an outwardly projecting part C for supporting the mold in theposition of use. Said mold members are clamped together in any as by two C-clamps D, in Fig. 1.

p ,The inner face of the mold member A is provided-with the mold cavity of our invention. This is given a design including all varieties of cast sections, that is, heavy and thin, sections, fine and coarse lines, intersecting lines, etc. As'shown in Fig. 2,3the design comprises-remain vertical groove E of a-uniform section throughout its length.

suitable manner,

On each; side of the fimi gmoveE is a; i

set of downwardl inclinedbranch grooves F, G, and H. 11 both sets, the branch grooves have substantially the same extent of inclination and are alike. Said branch grooves have their greatestsectionat their entrance. into the main roove E and diminish in section toward t eir outer ends, where'they become fine lines. The grooves F to H on one side of the main groove E are above the corresponding ones on the. opposite side so that the filling ofa branch groove on one side of said main groove will not be at the expense of the corresponding 'one'on the opposite side.

grooves above in fairly fine lines, as shown in Fig. 2.

The upper end of the mold has a filling recess M, which communicates with a smaller recess N,-the latter opening directly into the upper end of the main groove E. As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, eachof the mold members A, B islprovided with a part of this filling recess Except for this recess being in both mold members, the rest ofthemold cavity is in the mold member A and not in the'one B, in the particular design and structure shown. v p v The mold member A, in addition to the mold cavity described, is alsoprovided with a chamber. 0 adapted to be filled with mercury and into which is inserteda thermometer or other heat registering gauge P.

The mold or apparatus is used asfollows.

The mold members A, B are clamped together, and their temperature raised to a predetermined .point by the application of eat, as by gasburners. Molten metal of the kind to be tested is then poured into the mold cavitythrough the filling recesses M, N. The temperature of the molten metal at the time of pouring is determined and a record kept of. it. To align themold members A, B and hold them in that relation whenclampedtogether, dowel or like pinsQ, Q are provided. a

The main groove filling recesses M' and N and having a substantially uniform section vthroughoutits length will fillfirst and will be'the easiest. part of the cavity to fill. The other grooves will. fill in the, order of their location and shape. The bottom grooves F, F will natu- E being in linewith the" off in dimension in that direction and become very fine at their extreme outer ends. Gravity,-however, assisting the filling will play its-part, whereas gravity will not aid in filling the fine upper ends of the grooves J. Next to fill from the main groove E are the upper grooves G, and a part of the vertical groove I on each side thereof will fill from that groove and meet the molten metal in the groove from the groove F therebelow. The grooves K will fill in the same manner as the ones J, and so on throughout the entireshape of the mold cavity. To permit the escape of air, vent lines are provided in connection with the several grooves, as shown in Fig. 2, and these lines for convenience are all marked a.

We have given all of the grooves of the mold cavity certain numerical valuations based on. 100% and in such proportions thereof as indicate the difiioulties the metal encounters in filling the various parts of the cavity, depending on the fineness and loca tion of the grooves. For illustration, we have given the main groove E a rating of 10, while for the portion of each branch groove F, G and H at the main groove E,

a rating of 1; for the portions of these branch rooves between the vertical grooves I and a rating of 2; and for the outer end portions of these branclr grooves beyond'the vertical grooves I, a rating of 3,

asmarked on Fig. 2. For each, vertical groove J, K, and L, we give a rating of 4,

because it is more difiicult to fill .these grooves than the other groove parts mentioned, and for each portion of the groove I,'a rating of 5, because of the fact that that roove is likely to fill from both top and low with a chance of trapping air between the filling parts of the column. Adding the ratings of the various grooves on each side of the main groove will give 90, 45 for each side of the main groove-E. Adding the rating for the main groove E to the above figure will total 100, indicating the full percenta e for the entire mold cavity.

Starting with the metal being tested at a certain temperature and with the moldata certain temperature and reducing a casting with the device describe. will show on in spe'ction jofythe. casting just what difiiculties were encountered in filling the various parts of the grooves. If any imperfections are found, it-is apparent that either the temperature of the mold or the temperature of the metal needs changing. The temperature of the mold may be raised or lowered as the test may require and another casting made which on inspection will show the actual conditions encountered. By making the series of tests with the metal at a given temof castings for the different industrial uses to which the metal is. put. Thus, in connection with the printing of newspapers the method and device of our invention can determine at what fheat'the metal for the type should be poured and what the mold temperature should be to gain the best results for any number of copies of an edition that may be run off without having the type fail. In the same way the invention and apparatus can determine at what temperature the mold metal can be best used for coating electric cables, and so on.-

While we have shown'and described herein in detail an apparatus or mold for practicing the method of our invention, we, of course, do not wish to be limited to the exact details of structure thereof because they may be variously changed and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention, nor do we wish to be limited to the particular application of our invention as herein described.

We claim as our invention: a

1. The method of determining the highest grade of castings from any given metal, which consists in determining the mold and metal temperatures required for such castin s.

The method of determining the highest grade of castings from any given metal, which consists in determining the mold and metal temperatures required for such castings by pouring the molten metal into, a mold and keeping either the molten metal or the mold at a substantially constant temperature while varying the'temperature of the other.

3. The method of determining the highest grade which consists in-determining the mold and metal temperatures required for such castings by pouring the molten metal at varying temperatures into a mold kept at a substantially constant temperature.

4. The method of determiningthe highest grade of castings from'a'ny given metal,

which consists in determining the mold and metal temperatures required for such cast- In this of castings from any given metal,

ings by pouring the molten metal at a substantially constant temperature into a mold having a design including a variety of casting sections. 7 I

6. The method of determining the highest grade of castings from any given metal, which consists in determining the mold and metal temperatures for such castings and pouring the molten metal into a mold cavity aving a design including a variety of casting sections, that is, heavy and thin sections,

fine and coarse lines, intersecting lines, etc.

' 7. The method of determining the highest grade of castings; from any given metal, which consists in determining the mold and metal temperatures for such castings and pouring the molten metal into a mold cavity having a design including a variety of casting sections and having a table of values for difierent parts of said design based on the intricateness thereof and difficulty to fill, which values when all perfect total 100%.

8. A mold for the purpose described, having a mold cavity of a design representing a variety of casting sections.

9. A mold for the purpose described, having a mold cavity of a. designrepresenting a variety of casting sections, including heavy and thin sections, fine and coarse lines, intersectin lines, etc.

10. A mold or the purpose described, having a mold cavity of a design comprising a main groove having a substantially uniform section throughout its length and opening directly into the filling opening of the mold, branch grooves on opposite sides of said main groove and arranged at angles thereto, said branch grooves opening into said main groove at their inner ends and decreasing in section toward their outer ends,

thereto, said branch grooves opening into said main groove at their inner ends and decreasing in section toward their outer ends, and additional grooves on opposite sides of said main groove and transverse to said branch grooves, said additional grooves opening into their associate branch grooves between the ends of the latter and arranged with a branch groove on each side of said main groove intersecting at least two branch grooves. a a

12. A mold for the purpose described, having a mold cavity of a designcomprising a main groove'havlng a substantially uniform section throughout its length and opening directly into the filling opening of the mold, branch grooves on opposite sides of said main groove and arranged at angles thereto, said branch grooves opening into said main grooveat their inner ends and decreasing in section toward their outer ends, additional grooves on opposite sides of said main groove and transverse to said branch grooves. said additional grooves opening into their associate branch grooves and arranged with a groove on each side of said main groove intersecting at least two branch grooves, and table of values for said grooves based on the sections thereof and the difficulty of filling, which values when all perfeet total 100%.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention, we aflix our signatures, this 31 day of March, A. D. 1923.

ERWIN L. WVILKE. JAMES O. JOHNSTONE. 

